By way of example, if an IMS OSAM database exceeds a predefined system maximum capacity, such as about 8.4 gigabytes (Gb) or 8.4 billion bytes, it will fail and stop functioning. At the time the present invention was made, there was not a readily available way to be proactive and prevent such failures from happening. Existing tools did not make the needed information available. In fact, it was determined that existing interactive system productive facility (ISPF) and interactive storage management facility (ISMF) tools could not be reliably used for space determination for datasets guaranteed space because the dataset control blocks (DSCBs) were not correctly updated, as discussed further below. Regardless of the predefined system capacity, most users will want to accurately know when system limits are being approached so that proactive steps can be taken.
A product that came with BMC IMS utilities was located, but that product was particular to its own internal processes during execution of the BMC IMS utilities and built its processes thereupon. Consequently, this product was not applicable to IMS OSAM systems and the like.